the coast

Take a listen to “The Coast” from Jennah Barry, off the album Young Men. Originally from coastal Clearland, Nova Scotia but now based in Toronto, Barry recorded the album in the dead of winter at the Old Confidence Lodge, a former Odd Fellows meeting hall in Riverport, Nova Scotia and the current home and recording studio of producer/recording engineer Diego Medina (Chad VanGaalen, Steve Albini, Women). Five days in April 2012 with former bandmates of The O’Darling, her brother and Old Man Luedecke resulted in the skeleton of the album, with her producer Colin Nealis (with the help of Barry) filling in the rest to make an album that “wavers between dreamily bucolic and quietly haunting”.

I’ve always been pretty strict at keeping Indie Music Filter separate from my day job running Bearsuit Publishing. I never wanted to be in a position where it looked like I was writing favorable reviews of artists that I represented, essentially creating my own artificial hype. But over time I’ve noticed the relationship between music blogs and music licensing/publishing. I’ve found artists that I work with now through music blogs. Music Supervisors read my blog when looking for new music. I have had music supervisors writing a column on my site (“Sync Master”) talking about new music and its potential in the tv/film world.

So there’s quite an overlap.

With that in mind, I thought it might be a good idea to use my blog to get the word out about a solid show happening in Toronto (regardless if I work with these bands or not). And to run a contest.

To enter: respond in the comments with the word Bearsuit to win 2 tickets to attend the show above. I’ll take submissions until friday at midnight (EST) and draw one winner from the entrants.

The Coast are set to release Expatriate on Friday night (details below) in Toronto. We haven’t done a contest here in a while, so we figured, why not?

Here’s the contest. Send me an e-mail answering this question. Who was the producer on theCoast‘s record Expatriate? (Hint: try their myspace page). We’ll draw two winners from the people who answered correctly. Each winner gets two passes to the CD release party this Friday night in Toronto (remember 19+ show) and a copy of the album. Contest runs until Wednesday at noon.

*disclaimer: Just as a side note, I (Burtch) am unbiased when it comes to the Coast. I’ve known the band through Chris (who works for them) for a while, but I’m not a lackey, paid or otherwise. Now on to my posting:

The Coast have been floating around the Toronto Indie Rock scene for a few years now. With a fairly engaged following of fans, the band has been on the rise for almost as long. The boys have been touring heavily across North America in support of such acts as Tokyo Police Club, The Dears, Sam Roberts, and the French Kicks, and landed themselves in a CMJ showcase alongside A Place To Bury Strangers. For those who have traced the course of the band, the tour was a solid follow up to their Eponymous EP. Their live act drew solid reviews, making the wait for their soon-to-be-released, debut full length album, Expatriate, seem like a lifetime.

According to lead vocalist Ben Spurr, the new album encapsulates those sensations of dealing with feelings of disappointment in one’s self and others:

“There are some idiosyncrasies about this record, and that goes with what the songs are speaking to, which is addressing some of our flaws instead of trying to gloss over them or attempting to edit them out completely”

Fortunately for the Coast, with idiosyncrasies on full display mind you, this album is far from a disappointment. Engaging, diverse, and at times moving, Expatriate is a strong effort in the right direction for a band trying to put their stamp on an amorphous music scene. One of the main attractions of the album, is it’s own varied nature: Many of the album’s tracks like Tightrope (available alongside an article from Exclaim!); Nueva York; The Moon Is Dead; or Song For Gypsy Rose Lee, illustrate a prototypical pop sound, similar to what one might expect from acts such as The French Kicks, The Horror The Horror, or perhaps an unreleased Jets To Brazil b-sides album. No Secret Why displays a definite alt-country bent, which reminded me of acts like the Old 97’s, the Drive-By Truckers, and the Tragically Hip. Ceremony Guns could be an homage to more symphonic art rock acts like Radiohead or Godspeed You Black Emperor! That track in specific blew me away. There’s a bit of everything for everyone on Expatriate.

With tour dates already scheduled across the U.S., including a showcase at SXSW in Austin, TX, next week, we should expect big things from the Coast in the coming year, and beyond.